


Memento

by hecatesbrat



Category: FF7, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: AU If You Squint, Angst, Character Death, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2013-09-30
Packaged: 2017-12-28 00:44:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/985611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hecatesbrat/pseuds/hecatesbrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The only memento is a pair of broken glasses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memento

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to let the angries out.

The news came in five minutes earlier, but there was no substantial proof. Reno said he found his sunglasses, but that was it.

Tseng demanded proof, wanted the truth. Cold evidence in front of him, not just the redhead's word. In any other case, word would be enough, but _this_ was not any other case. Not some small mission gone wrong.

Words on paper swam in and out of focus; he refused to cry. Especially when there was no evidence other than shattered glasses. The long haired man sighed and glared at his mobile phone, willing it to ring. Daring Reno to call back and cool the slow burn that his words started within. Tseng didn't just dare it, he _wanted_ it, _needed_ it.

Pulling a key out of a hidden pocket, the slim man unlocked the top drawer of his desk. Dark eyes stared at the contents; it was years since he actually touched the contents.

Calm, he needed calm. To push the negative thoughts out of his head. They were almost malicious those thoughts, the way they coiled and fed him the worst images possible. Tseng could not be mad at Reno, he was the messenger and he didn't really even know the deeper silence that he had given on the phone.

His hands shook as he picked up his _Japa Mala_ , his prayer beads from when he was a priest. The wood and bone felt familiar even after so many years of abstained use. Slowly he focused on the beads and the words that went with each one. The mantras softly fell from his lips, a quiver to his voice and his eyes closed.

Mantras to work the demons of the mind away, to overcome and to see truth. Simultaneously, his phone rang again and the bead cord broke. Wood and bone bounced, clicking and clattering on the hardwood floor. Tseng's eyes opened; he didn't need to answer the phone to know what Reno was going to say. The burn that previous words had started was now a cold lump of anxiety.

The phone stopped ringing and a final bead fell from his fingers. Flipping the phone open and pressing a button to ring the redheaded Turk, Tseng waited.

"...Well?"

His eyes closed.

"I want-no, need to see with my own eyes."

He chewed on his lower lip.

"ETA? I'll meet you there." He was already headed for the elevator.

Minutes felt like seconds and hours all at the same time within that metal and glass box; the slim man didn't have a moment to check his appearance when the doors slid open to reveal a very filthy Turk.

"Tseng! 'M sorry. You don't have too..."

The dark haired man glared at his fellow Turk, halting words on a normally loose tongue. All Reno could do was listen to the footsteps walk away from him and into the other room; moments later, Tseng's footfalls were heard returning.

The redhead pressed the elevator button and waited. Tseng stood beside him and Reno slipped Rude's glasses into the other man's hand, broken and cracked.

Reno watched his boss step into the lift and press the button that would take him to his not so ivory tower. Rude's partner swallowed and spoke up before the doors closed, "He told me, told me to tell you that he loved you."

The doors closed and Tseng slid down the wall, crying softly for the lover that wouldn't be joining him in bed tonight.


End file.
